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For Supermodel With a Temper, No Charges

The supermodel Naomi Campbell, who has twice pleaded guilty to assault charges in the last three years, has been accused of letting her temper get the best of her once again.

Ms. Campbell hit her driver as he drove through Midtown about 3 p.m. Tuesday and then ran away after the driver pulled over, according to the account the police gave shortly afterward. The driver had a small bruise under his eye from hitting the steering wheel after she struck him, the police said.

Investigators said they were looking to question the temperamental model about the episode, which happened at the intersection of Second Avenue and 58th Street. But by Tuesday evening, the magnitude of the incident had been downgraded: the police said they were no longer interested in speaking with Ms. Campbell and considered the matter closed. A report was taken shortly after the episode, but no charges were filed.

“There shouldn’t be a rush to judgment,” said Jeff Raymond, a spokesman for Ms. Campbell, adding, “There is more to the story than meets the eye.”

After the episode, the driver approached a traffic agent, who then called the police, they said.

The police account was reminiscent of legal scrapes involving Ms. Campbell in New York and elsewhere.

In 2008, she pleaded guilty in England to assaulting two police officers at Heathrow Airport in London. She was sentenced to 200 hours of community service and fined $4,600.

In 2007, she pleaded guilty in New York to reckless assault for hitting her maid in the head with a cellphone the year before. She was sentenced to five days of community service and anger-management classes.

Anahad O’Connor contributed reporting.

A version of this article appears in print on March 3, 2010, on page A28 of the New York edition with the headline: For Model With Temper, No Charges. Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe